Vegan and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Poutine

Ah, Poutine. Glorious, glorious poutine. Cheese, gravy, and potatoes. How do you make it better? You combine it with the other most amazing meal in the world — Thanksgiving dinner! I present to you a Vegan and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Poutine. You’re welcome.

I know you might be thinking — Thanksgiving? But, it’s Christmas time, Marieke! I completely agree. But, it is Thanksgiving this week in America, so I thought I would take the opportunity to share this delicious recipe that I never got around to sharing in October. Bonus: a lots of these flavours make appearances in Christmas dinners as well. That means you can also make this around Christmas. Yippee! Poutine for everyone.

Why is this the BEST vegan and gluten-free Thanksgiving Poutine?

1. There is a full recipe, which means you can make this from scratch. BUT – it’s also leftover-friendly! Have yams leftover? Use them! Have stuffing? Use that instead of the fried onions (or have both!). Have some leftover tofurkey? Toss it in! Pretty much anything will work.
2. You can totally make this into a Thanksgiving Bowl! Use leftover mashed potatoes instead of fries, and YUM.
3. These flavours, you just don’t get better than this. I’m not claiming here that I came up with these flavour combos, ’cause obviously I didn’t! But, I’d like to think I’m using them in a way that would be respected by all great cooks that came before me.
4. You can most certainly use leftover gravy for this recipe, but I urge you to try my Ultimate Vegan and Gluten-Free Gravy. This gravy is honestly the best gravy I have had since going vegan, so please please try it and let me know what you think!

What makes up a Thanksgiving dinner?

So, obviously this is going to be different for everyone. But I’ll tell you a little bit about how my family has done it over the years. Of course, there has always been a turkey. I’m the only vegan in my family (which still breaks my heart a tiny bit, sorry mom and dad). My family has significantly reduced their meat intake and I really respect and admire that. But sadly, a poor turkey still is at the centre of our Thanksgiving table.

For years, I always made a Tofurkey for myself. Unfortunately, due to my celiac diagnoses a few years back, I had to stop (insert heartbreak emoji here). Now I make myself a piece of Gardein’s gluten-free chick’n and it does the trick!

Along with the protein, we do stuffing. Its always a simple recipe, but it’s my absolute favourite dish. I always make my stuffing separately with vegan butter (I wish everyone was vegan, but I also secretly love that I don’t have to share). Then there are the mashed potatoes and yams, which my family always makes vegan by default. And finally the homemade cranberries, peas, and coleslaw.

I couldn’t justify loading this vegan and gluten-free Thanksgiving Poutine with every element of my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, that would just be the dinner with fries on the bottom! Instead, I took some of my favourite elements of this delicious meal and incorporated them into a beautiful, beautiful poutine.

Before we dig in to this Thanksgiving Poutine, I want to acknowledge that Thanksgiving has a dark, colonial past: a lot of what us white people know about this holiday is wrong. And so, I have a simple ask: when you’re gathering around with your family and friends this Thanksgiving, think about what in fact you are really celebrating and why. I’m not saying don’t eat these delicious foods, but, if you are a settler, take the time to think about your settler privilege.

I hope you enjoy this Vegan and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Poutine as much as I do! And please let me know what you think! Leave me a comment below, or share what you’ve made on Instagram or Twitter – and don’t forget to tag me (at)theveganharvest.

Happy eating, everyone!

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Vegan and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Poutine

This is the most amazing Thanksgiving Poutine ever -- and it's vegan and gluten-free! The recipe has everything you need, but also have options to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers! This poutine is loaded with fries, yams, vegan cheese, fried onions, and cranberry sauce - then covered in a rich, flavourful broth. MMM!

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the yams (or use leftover yams!)

• 1 small yam
• juice of one orange, approximately 6 tbsp
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

For the fries

• 3 medium sized russet potatoes
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the fried onions (or use leftover stuffing!)

• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• pinch of salt

For serving

• 1 cup shredded vegan cheese (I used the daiya mozzarella shreds)
• 1 cup my perfect vegan and gluten free gravy (link in note)*
• 2/3 cup prepared cranberry sauce
• sliced green onions, for garnish

Instructions

For the candied yams

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Slice the yam into thin sticks (essentially you just want them to be smaller than your fries) and place them in a small oven-safe dish.

3. Top with orange juice, brown sugar, vegan butter (just place small pieces on top of the yams), salt, and pepper. No need to stir. Cover and place in the oven.

4. Bake for 50 minutes and then remove from the oven. They should be almost done. You will be placing them back in the oven for a short period later (when you bake the fries), but you want to make sure the yams are pretty much done at this point. (Note: while your yams are cooking, it's a good time to head over to my gravy recipe and start making that.)

For the fries

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut the potatoes into fries - I like to make mine fairly large. If you prefer smaller fries, you'll have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

3. In a large pot, bring the fries to a boil in salted water. Once they've reached a boil, let them cook in simmering water for about 5 minutes (less if you've made smaller fries).

4. Strain the fries well and pat dry with a towel or paper towel.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the fries out evenly. Drizzle the oil on top, gently mixing the fries to ensure they are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Place the fries in the oven.

7. Bake the fries for 15 minutes, flip, then bake for another 15-ish minutes (check them after 10 minutes). When you place your fries back in the oven, also place your yams in the oven, uncovered.

For the onions

1. While your fries are baking, preheat a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat.

2. When the pan is hot, add the butter and then, after it has melted, the sliced onions.

3. Sauté the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and making sure to adjust the temperature accordingly so they do not burn.

4. Add the poultry seasoning and salt to the onions. Continue to sauté the onions, another 5-10 minutes, until they are soft and smell delicious. 

To serve:

1. Sprinkle the vegan cheese on top of the fries and broil until the cheese has just melted.

2. Place some fries in a poutine-worthy sized bowl and top with some yams and onions. Pour the gravy on top and then place a decent spoonful of cranberry sauce on top. Garnish with green onion.

Recipe Notes

*This gravy recipe MAKES this dish. It's not going to be horrible if you use a different gravy recipe, but it isn't going to be as magical. I don't want to toot my own horn here, but my gravy recipe is A+.

Can’t make this Vegan and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Poutine right now? Pin-it for later!